| Takeshi Kaneko | |
| Position: | Pitcher/Scorer |
| Team: | Chunichi Dragons |
| Bats: | Right |
| Throws: | Right |
| Birth Date: | 25 February 1993 |
| Birth Place: | Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan |
| Debutdate: | April 16 |
| Debutyear: | 2015 |
| Debutteam: | Chunichi Dragons |
| Statleague: | NPB |
| Statyear: | 2016 |
| Stat1label: | Win–loss |
| Stat1value: | 0–0 |
| Stat2label: | ERA |
| Stat2value: | 4.91 |
| Stat3label: | Strikeouts |
| Stat3value: | 12 |
| Teams: |
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is a retired professional Japanese baseball player. He was a pitcher for the Chunichi Dragons.
In his university career, Kaneko performed as both a starter and a reliever for Osaka University of Commerce. In the Kansai6 Baseball League in Spring of his third year, Kaneko recorded 4 consecutive shutouts.[1] His overall record for his university was 65 games played with a 23–17 win-loss record and a 1.85 ERA.[1] He is one year the university senior of teammate, Iori Katsura.
At the 2014 Nippon Professional Baseball draft, Kaneko was selected 9th by the Chunichi Dragons where he went on to sign a ¥6,000,000 contract with a ¥15,000,000 sign on bonus.[2]
On 16 April, Kaneko made his debut against the Hanshin Tigers at the Nagoya Dome in one inning of relief where he retired 3 batters in a row.[3] He was the first of the 4 pitchers drafted in 2014 to make his debut.
Kaneko would go on to play in a further 10 games all coming as a relief pitcher where he threw 13.2 innings with a 3.95 ERA and 12 strikeouts.
Only one appearance would happen for Kaneko in 2016 where on May 8 he took charge of the 9th inning against the Yomiuri Giants with the Dragons holding an 11–2 lead where Kaneko gave up a 2-run homerun to Yoshiyuki Kamei before closing out.[4]